HALLOWELL (NEWS CENTER Maine) — Water levels are gradually dropping on Front Street in Hallowell, but emergency management officials say they're still worried about the ice jam on the Kennebec River that caused the weekend flooding.
That jam is about 2 miles downriver in Farmingdale. It backed up very early Sunday morning, causing the river to flood into low lying Front Street in Hallowell.
Seventeen cars were swamped in water up to the windows, and the water then froze. Several restaurants also were damaged by the flood waters, including Hyde Out at the Wharf, which owner Wayne Hyde said has several feet of water inside.
► PHOTOS: Flooding in Hallowell
Another restaurant, The Quarry Tavern, had its basement storage area flood, which the owner said ruined most of the food and supplies.
Those who live in the community say it's normal to get some flooding in this part of town, but they have never seen anything like this.
"It's really a huge bummer to see what has happened to our neighbors," one family said. "It's just devastating, I'm looking at those cars over there -- we're lucky we didn't have to go through it, I can't imagine."
Hallowell brought in a bucket loader to break up the ice on Front Street and clear a path for water to drain out. However, Kennebec County Emergency Management director Sean Goodwin said the ice jam was slowing the flow of the river, and that, in turn, was holding flood water and ice in Front Street.
Police said it may take until Tuesday to get all the cars towed out.
Meanwhile, Goodwin said they are still keeping a close watch on the ice jam, and hoping warmer weather next weekend will help the jam to break up.